Image is Nothing, Earth is Everything

In 1996, Sprite changed their slogan from “I Like the Sprite in You” to “Image is Nothing, Thirst is Everything - Obey Your Thirst.” The change skyrocketed the brand’s success and within a matter of months sales increased by 9%. Since then, Sprite has become the fourth most popular soft drink on the market.

There are two strong ironies regarding this slogan.

1. The advertising was focussed on image more than anything.
2. While Sprite does quench thirst, like other soft drinks it can “act as dehydrating diuretic“. If you really wanted to obey your thirst, you’d drink water.

While Sprite has nothing to do with the environment (and this is an environmental blog), their marketing efforts are noteworthy because of how they parallel the advertising efforts by thousands of “green” businesses across North American today.

While Sprite promoted a thirst-quenching drink (which it wasn’t the best at doing), thousands of companies in 2008 are promoting green (when they aren’t doing all they could be).

Problem, Agitate, Solve

A very basic advertising formula is to find a problem that affects the target market, agitate it and make it seem bigger than it is, and then produce a solution - not only making the consumer feel better, but also putting some money in the pockets of the producer.

Ever since ozone depletion and global warming have become legitimate threats to our environments sustainability, companies have been searching for ways to offer solutions to the worried marketplace.

Green Marketing is one of the biggest trends of the last decade. Unfortunately, actually being green - or being completely honest about being green - isn’t so widely practiced. ESLPod.com recently stated that “American companies are trying to appeal (make more attractive) to consumers (people who buy products) by claiming that their products are “earth-friendly” or “eco-safe,” when it is not clear whether they are or not.”

It’s called Greenwashing: companies misleading consumers regarding their environmental practices or the environmental benefits of their products or services. continue»

More in category Greenwashing

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